Telephone attachment.



I. H. CLEMONS.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 18. 1914.

Patented J une 8, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- \).H.CLEMONS THE NORRIS PETERS Ca. PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON D. c

J. H. CLEMONS.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

PPLICATION FILED JULY 18, 1914.

1,142,080.. Patented June 8,1915.-

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

'l l l l l i anon/141 M 0. HC LEMONS inure srarns Parana OXFFTCEJ L JAMES H. CLEMONS, 0F ILIQN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR OF TWENTY-FIVE ONE-HUN DREDTHS TO GEORGE BATES AND TWENTY-FIVE ONE-HUNDREDTHS T0 FRED B.

GADY, BOTH OF ILION, NEW YORK.

TELEPHONE ATTACHMENT.

Application filed July 18, 1914. Serial N 0. 851,783.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES H. CLEMoNs, a citizen of the United States, residing at Ilion, in the county of Herkimer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Telephone Attachments, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in telephones and more particularly to a telephone attachment, the main object of the present invention being the provision of a device adapted for attachment to telephones on party lines, where there are several parties upon the line, so that should'one party be talking to another party on the line, it will be impossible for a third party to intercept the message and thereby know what the conversation is .going on over the wire and, if any party should attempt to intercept the message, the connection between the two talking parties will be automatically broken so as to indicate whether or not a third party is attempting to intercept on the line.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a device of the above character which will possess advantages in points of etliciency and durability, is inexpensive to manufacture and, at the same time, is sim- V ple in construction and operation.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter referred to and more particularly pointed out in the, specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a telephone, illustrating my improved attachment as applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the attachment. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View; and Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating a central and a party line connected to the same.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, 1 indicates a telephone, preferably of that character which is used for party line connections andwhich includes a base or supporting board 1 having attached to the lower end thereof the battery box 2. Se-

cured to the outer face of the board 1 at the upper end thereof, is the connection box 3, having the binding posts 4 to which the line Patented June 8,1915.

wires 5 and 6 are connected. Extending out- 7 wardly from the connection box 3, is the usual telephone hook 7 Attached to the base board 1 at the upper end thereof, is my improved attachment which is inclosed within a suitable casing 8. This attachment includes a base orsupporting board 9.

Arranged in spaced relation to the base member 9, is what will be hereinafter known as a bridge frame 10, said frame having formed upon its lower face a pair of perforated lugs 11 arranged in spaced relation and pivotally connected to the upwardly pro ect1ng lugs 12 formed upon the baseboard 9. Pivotally connected at vtheir inner ends, to the perforated lugs 13, formed at the reduced end portions of the bridge frame 10 are the push buttons 14 and 15, said push buttons being pressed inwardly to actuate the bridge frame upon its pivot. Secured to each side of the bridge frame 10, are the connecting bars 16, said bars being rigidly connected tothe side edges of the frame by means of the set screws 17.

Arranged within each end of the casing 8, are the binding posts 18 to whichvthe line wires 5 and 6 are connected and formed upon the outer ends of the bars 16, are the contact points 19 which are adapted'for engagement with the spring contacts 20 carried by the binding posts 18 and which project inwardly at each end of the casing in spaced relation to each other. From this it will be apparent that upon pushing inwardly upon either one of the push buttons 14 or 15, the wires 5 and 6 will be connected at one end of the casing, while the wires at the other end will be disconnected. Connected to the bars 16, by means of the binding post 12, are the wires 22 which connect the line wires 5 and 6 with the telephone proper. Thus, when thebars 16 are connected at one end with'the contacts 20 a through connection from the line wires to the telephone will be assured. An opening 23 is formed in oneside of the casing 8 and arranged within said opening is a guide plate 24:, the outer end of which is provided with an opening Which forms a guide for the movable rod 26, the lower end of said rod means of the clamp 27 Arranged within the casing and rigidly secured to the bridge frame 10, is the outwardly projecting stop arm 28 which forms a catch adaptedto engage with the inner end of the rod 26, to retain the bridge frame in its operative position, after being placed in such position by means of one of the push buttons 14 or 15,. It will. be noted that when the receiver 31 is mounted upon the hook 7, the rod 26 is in its lowered position and in view of the fact that it is connected to the receiver hook 7, it will be necessary to move the bridge frame 10 upon its pivot, either to the left or to the right in order to permit upward movement of therod 26 through the plate 24 since the arm 28 forms'a stop for the upward movement ofthe rod 26. From this it will be noted that it will be impossible to intercepta message passing through the line wires 5 and 6 by merely raising the receiver 31 from the hook 7, it being apparent that either one of the buttons will have to be pressed inwardly in order to swing the arm away to permit a free upward movement of the rod 26. Thus, should two parties upon a line be talking, it will be impossible for a third party to intercept the message, without automatically cutting off communication between the two parties talking.

In Fig. 5, I have illustrated a diagrammatic view, in order to show more clearly the operation of my improved device. In Fig. 5 the numeral 32 indicates the central station and branching, from this station is .7

a branchline including, by way of example, nine private partly linestations, the subscribers stations numbering, respectively, from 33 to 41, for convenience of description. In the operation of my improved telephone attachment, we will take for instance the example of party 34, desiring to call number 39; They will press inwardly upon the button 15, thus connecting the wires 5 and 6, at the right hand side of the casing and disconnecting the line wires at the, op-

posite end of the casing and cutting off the central oflice and the party 33. In pressing inwardly upon the button 15, the remaining parties upon the line are connected with the party 34 and by giving the correctnumber of rings, the party 39 will respond to the call, said party pressing inwardly upon'the button at the left hand side of the casing and raising the receiver. Thus communication will be established between the parties 34. and 39. Now, should any one of the other parties arranged between these two parties attempt to intercept the conversation, it will be necessary for them to press inwardly upon either one of the buttons 14 and 15, thus disconnecting the communication between the parties 34 and 39. It will be understood that the parties 33,: 40 and 41 are entirely cut off the line, by the pivotal movee i bf and 39.

From the above description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent'that I have provided a simple and durable telephone attachment which is particularly adapted for party lines, whereby two parties upon the line may communicate with each other, without interference from any of the other parties on the line or from the outside. It will also be apparent that none of the other parties upon the line will be able to intercept the message between the two parties, without entirely cutting off, communication with the same, thus notifying either one of the talking partiesthat a third party has broken the frame 10 by the parties 34 into the line. It will be apparent that this 7 obvious that various changes in the details of construction and in the proportions may be resorted to for successfully carryin my invention into practice, without sacri cing any of the novel features or departing from the scope of the invention, as defined by the appended claims.

Having thus, described this invention, what I claim is 1. A device of the character described including a pivotally mounted bridge frame, conductor strips secured to the longitudinal edges of the frame, spring contacts at each terminal of each conductor, each of said contacts being normally in engagement with 'the adjacent conductor,"a stop arm carried by the bridge piece, and a slidably mounted locking member adapted to engage against the stop member for locking the bridge member against return movement when moved in either direction.

2. In a device of the character described,

a supporting base, a swingingly'mounted bridge frame disposed in spaced relation to the base, parallel conductor strips secured to the longitudinal edges of the bridge-frame,

spring contact members arranged on the supporting base, there being a contact adj acent to each terminal of each conductorstrip,

all of' said contacts being normallyin engagement with the conductor strips, the conductor strips at either end of the bridge member. being adapted to be freed from the adjacent contact member upon the swinging of the bridge frame, and spring pressed means arranged to lock the bridge member in an, adjusted position, when swung "in either direction. v

3. In a device'of the character described,

a supporting base, a swingingly mounted 7 bridge frame mounted in spaced relation to rod normally engaging against the face of the stop arm, said rodbeing adapted to a move] into engagement with the adjacent edge of the stop arm upon the swinging of f r the bridge frame in either direction, whereby the bridge frame is held against return 20 movement until the rod is released.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix' my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. OLEMONS.

Witnesses FAYETTE GETMAN, a I. E. BALL.

Copies of this patent may he obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0. 

